Belle of the Ball
by Lizwontcry
Summary: What happens when Vegas hosts a Law Enforcement Ball, and our favorite CSIs show up to get an unexpected surprise involving Sara and Grissom. GSR, obviously!


**I don't own nothin', but we all knew that, didn't we?**

**I just wanted to write a little story about how everyone happened to find out about Grissom and Sara. Takes places sometime after Way to Go. **

**R/R if you wanna.**

Sara Sidle didn't know why she was going to this thing. She adjusted her new, tightly-fitted dress as she stepped out of the Denali. It was the night of the Law Enforcement Ball, and she was going without Gil Grissom. When she asked him to come with her, he just chuckled and said, "Do you really see me dancing, Sara?" And she knew he was right. Gil Grissom was a lot of things, but a dancer was not one of them.

The Law Enforcement ball was being held to honor all members of law enforcement in Clark County. In true Vegas style, it was being held at a casino. Grissom guessed the ball was just a ploy to make the sheriff look good. Sure enough, when Sara walked into the casino, the press were scattered all around, taking pictures and getting interviews. She just shook her head and kept walking.

Even though Grissom didn't make it, she decided to go without him. This relationship had not only made her happier than possibly she's ever been, but it also made her feel open to things she wouldn't normally consider. Going to a dance where her peers could gawk at her in a formal dress? That was not something she would be up for in the past.

She bought the dress that day. Sara wasn't a dress-up kind of girl, but she could clean up nicely. She got dressed at Grissom's house, and when he saw her, said, "Wow. That's--I--wow." The dress was on only 5 minutes before it was off again.

Sara smiled at the memory. The dress was a nice one, she'd admit. It was a nice little red number she bought at a fancy store at one of the casinos. She had to get the salesgirl's help, it had been such a long time since she last wore a dress. The salesgirl had said, "Wow, you're going to be the belle of the ball tonight!" They shared a laugh, but Sara didn't really think she'd be anything special. Catherine would be there, after all. While she didn't always agree with Catherine on a lot of different things, she did think her colleague was beautiful.

So when she walked into the spacious conference room the ball was being held in, she looked around at all her colleagues, noting that they all cleaned up well for a bunch of people who were used to wearing uniforms or jeans and t-shirts to work.

While she was looking around, she heard Warrick call her name.

"Yo, Sara! Damn, girl...I mean...damn!"

She chuckled. "Thank you, Warrick. You're not looking so bad yourself." He did look nice in a tuxedo. Warrick's wife joined them and also commented on how nice Sara was looking. They all chatted for a few minutes until Nick and Catherine spotted them and came bounding over.

Catherine was wearing the little black dress, which complemented perfectly with her blonde hair. She was always a knockout but looked especially gorgeous on this night. She and Sara exchanged compliments.

Sara gave Nick an appreciative once-over. Nick was also wearing a tuxedo, and looking very nice, but then again, Sara thought Nick always looked good. Catherine once asked her why she and Nick never hooked up. Sara always found Nick to be above average attractive. His muscle-bound arms gave her the occasional tingly feeling. But when it came to men, Sara liked them older and experienced. Not that Grissom had much "experience" when it came to relationships, but they could work on that together.

While they huddled together, feeling like outsiders from the rest of the group, Greg came strolling by and stopped short when he saw Sara. She smiled warmly at him. She knew he had a little crush on her. It didn't bother her, but she knew sometimes it did get a little irksome to Grissom. Not that he'd ever let Greg know that, but Sara knew it bothered him just a little bit.

"Sara, you look beautiful," Greg said, kissing her on the cheek. It was then he remembered he brought a date, the young lab tech they hired a few weeks ago. Gracie, the lab tech, looked adoringly at Greg and soon, Sara was forgotten in Greg's eyes.

As he always tended to do, Grissom came up in their conversation.

"Do you think Grissom's going to make it?" Greg asked, biting into one of the finger sandwiches that was provided to the group.

Catherine scoffed.

"At this thing? I think he'd rather go to the movies with Ecklie."

They all snickered, even Sara.

"Although I think there's a lady or two here he might want to dance with," she said, eyeing Sara just a little too knowingly.

Thankfully, the rest of the group didn't pick up on it, and they all continued chatting happily.

A slow song came on, and Nick looked at Sara.

"What do you say? Do you want to make your colleague a happy man by dancing with him?"

Sara didn't know if it was the Texas gentlemen in him, or he just thought she looked hot, but she said yes, and they danced closely to the song, one Sara wasn't too familiar with.

"You really do look nice tonight," he said.

"Oh, you're just saying that 'cause you're not used to me in a dress," she said, grinning.

"Well, let me tell ya, Sara, I could definitely get used to you wearing a dress," he said, and they giggled. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was flirting with her. But she DID know better, so she just gave him a playful slap on the arm and they continued to dance.

Towards the end of the song, Nick stopped in his tracks and uttered, "Oh...my...God."

Sara just thought he had a hot looking woman in his sights, but when she turned around, she was shaken with surprise.

"Can you believe Grissom made it? And he has a tie on?!" Nick said, chuckling.

"No, I--I can't--oh...my...God," she finally stuttered.

Gil Grissom was wearing a tuxedo, and damn, did he look good. He saw her and smiled, and she wondered what the hell she should be doing. Should she continue dancing with Nick or what? What was he doing here, damn it?!

Grissom tapped Nick on the shoulder and said, "May I have this dance?" Nick looked like he didn't know what hit him. He stuttered, "Sure--sure, Gris. Have fun." In a daze, he walked over to where Warrick, Catherine and Greg were gawking at the tuxedo-ed Grissom.

The song that was playing ended, and a new, slower song came on. It just happened to be "We've Got Tonight." Sara loved the song, but she didn't think it would bode well for their dance together.

Grissom, however, didn't seem to notice anything but her. He didn't seem to notice that approximately 500 of his colleagues were around, and a lot of them were looking at the couple dancing cheek to cheek. Sara was nervous, but since her partner didn't seem to care, she relaxed into his arms.

"I thought--I thought you weren't going to come!" She said as he held her closely.

"Well, I wasn't. But when I how beautiful you look tonight, I wanted to be a part of it."

She looked away and smiled. How lovely this moment was, and how completely dangerous and risky it was at the same time.

"You know how many people are looking at us right now?" She whispered in his ear.

"I do know. And I'm tired of caring. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

She shut up and they danced. They danced to the next 3 songs, not noticing anything else that was going on around them. For that 10 minutes, they were the only ones there.

When they decided to rest their feet for a song or two, they joined the others at their designated table. They were all talking and laughing happily, but when Sara and Grissom joined the table, they immediately stopped talking.

"So, anything new I need to know about?" Grissom asked, taking a bite of one of Greg's sandwiches. They all laughed. Sometimes, he knew exactly what to say.

"I knew it," Catherine said, eyeing the pair. "I knew it would happen the day Sara stepped into Vegas. Congratulations, Gil. You finally found someone who can be your equal."

"I--I mean--when--um--" Greg was stammering, looking a little sad. His date didn't look too happy, either.

"It doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter why, it just matters who," Gil said. "This is happening, so get used to it."

Another slow song was starting, and Grissom took Sara's hand. "Please accompany me to the dance floor."

"Certainly," she said, giving a little grin to her colleagues. Catherine, Warrick, Greg and Nick gave them a round of applause as they entered the dance floor once again.

As they danced cheek to cheek, Sara finally allowed herself to be content with the world. She was safe now. Even if her demons did come back to haunt her like they always ended up doing, Grissom would be there to help her sort them out. She was not alone anymore, and that thought didn't scare her as much as it once did.

Grissom looked in her eyes, and as if reading her mind, said, "We're home, Sara." They obviously weren't home, they were dancing in a throng of hundreds of people, but she knew what he meant. They were home.


End file.
